Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

What makes a great book? When you are yelling at the characters while reading! Yes, I did this. Katniss and the rest of the districts are slowly rebelling against the evil Capitol...President Snow retaliates by sending all the previous victors of the Hunger Games into the arena to fight it out. Can Katniss save Peeta or herself and thus her family?

This is an excellent series and I can't wait for the third book! Katniss is an unassuming hero and that's why I love her. She knows what's good and right and she doesn't even realize it. We also have another love triangle with Katniss and her two guys Gale and Peeta. We love them both! Well, I do anyway.

The world of the Hunger Games is just scary. Could our society ever become as debase and freedomless as this one?

This series is definitely one I'll repeat again and again!

Secrets of a Christmas Box by Steven Hornby

I won this book from Trina at Bloody Bad and so I was very excited to get it and finally read it! I wasn't disappointed! This was a fun and cute Christmas story. Ornaments on a Christmas trees come to life each year...Larry the snowman can't find his brother Terrence this year and decides to find him beyond the tree's border with the help of his two friends Debbie and Splint. It did take on a bit of a dark turn towards the end, but I think you can use this as a good learning opportunity for kids. I heard this was originally a screenplay so sometimes the dialogue is a bit off, but I thought it was a sweet story overall and brought out the magic of Christmas! I'm going to enjoy reading this one to my son as he gets older each year for Christmas! The book also has many drawings throughout the book that are really fun!

Part of the 2009 Holiday Reading Challenge

Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman

Seedfolks follows the perspectives of various people within a community. It starts of with little Kim trying to get her seeds to grow in a vacant lot right outside her apartment building. With each new perspective we see this little garden grow and how it brings together a small and diverse community. We see hate turn to love and to respect. Instead of phrases like "that Chinese woman" turns into "the school teacher." It's little things like this that make this short story so magical.

Character observations: Gonzalo: "The older you are, the younger you get when you move to the United States."

Wendell: "There's plenty about my life I can't change...But a patch of ground in this trashy lot--I can change that. Can change it big."

Nora: "Yet we were all subject to the same weather and pests, the same neighborhood, and the same parental emotions toward our plants...We, like our seeds, were no planted in the garden."

Amir: "The object in America is to avoid contact, to treat all as foes unless they're known to be friends."

Each character has these little quotes and observations as they each partake in some way of the community garden. It's full of life's rich lessons and one I will continue to read to my child.

Things i LOVE Friday

Thanksgiving with good family and fun games!

Listening to my favorite Christmas music

Reading fun Pride and Prejudice adaptations

Wearing my Santa hat everyday now til Christmas:)

Shopping for my baby boy for Christmas

Buying new books, it's such a rush!

scones from Emmett's

It's actually Things i LOVE Thursday hosted by Midnight Cowgirl @ The Fashion Planner, so join on in and tell us the things you loved this week!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Looks like this one got some tan lines!

Looks like it was a great first Thanksgiving. Too bad the whites committed genocide on the natives...

So let's be thankful for the good things in life and for the ability to deal with the bad things as well!

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving!

Win Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston!

Summary: Since the dawn of time, the Faerie have taken. . . .For seventeen-year-old actress Kelley Winslow, faeries are just something from childhood stories. Then she meets Sonny Flannery, whose steel-gray eyes mask an equally steely determination to protect her Sonny guards the Samhain Gate, which connects the mortal realm with the Faerie's enchanted, dangerous Otherworld. Usually kept shut by order of icy King Auberon, the Gate stands open but once a year. This year, as the time approaches when the Samhain Gate will swing wide and nightmarish Fae will fight their way into an unsuspecting human world, something different is happening . . . something wondrous and strange. And Kelley's eyes are opening not just to the Faerie that surround her but to the heritage that awaits her. Now Kelley must navigate deadly Faerie treachery—and her growing feelings for Sonny—in this dazzling page-turner filled with luminous romance. Wondrous Strange is a richly layered tale of love between faerie and mortal, betrayal between kings and queens, and magic . . . between author and reader.

Sounds super deduper to me! I actually have this one on my TBR list...I even got it from the library, but I have too many other book challenges I need to finish before the end of the year...so this one's on the back burner so...I hope I win!

Sign up at La Femme Readers. It ends November 30th!

Wondrous Words Wednesday

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Bermudaonion's Weblog where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading. If you want to play along, grab the button, and join the fun! (Don’t forget to leave a link in your comment if you’re participating.

From The Magical Christmas Cat by Nalini Singh, Lora Leigh, Linda Winstead Jones, and Erin McCarthy

1. p.70 "The insouciance with which Erik had crushed his wife's heart an hour ago..."

INSOUCIANCE: Lack of care or concern; indifference.
ORIGIN: 11790–1800; From French insouciant.

From The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans

1. p. 37 "I adroitly rationalized my absence from home on necessity and told myself that my family would someday welcome the sacrifice..."

ADROITLY: Cleverly skillful, resourceful, or ingenious.
ORIGIN: 1645–55; From French and Old French: elegant, skillful. Droit from dreit = straight, just, correct which comes from Latin dīrēctus.

The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans

A man learns how to appreciate and love his family through the help of Mary, the lady they stay with. It's a short, fun read, but the edition I read had a lot of editing errors. Also the narration is in first person, but later it would change to first-person omniscient? Not very readable...really annoying. It feels like this was a first draft and was printed without any editing...maybe the later editions are a little more cohesive.

But overall, the idea is within the Christmas and Holiday spirit and for that it's worth a read.

*Part of the Holiday Reading Challenge

Teaser Tuesdays- Secrets of a Christmas Box

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser:

From Secrets of a Christmas Box by Steven Hornby

p.135 "They could see very little until Splint and the two lights arrived behind them. Suddenly they noticed the outline of the soccer ball as it lay still on the garage floor. The lights slowly leaned out from behind Splint and the whole area lit up. Everyone gazed up in astonishment. There it stood, right in front of them, the huge box with th words 'Christmas Box' stamped across its brightly lit side."

Monday Movie Meme- We Are the Champions!

Feature Presentation...

MONDAY MOVIE MEME

This week's movie topic is all about Victory...
Share on your blog movies focusing on champions, victories and winners and link back at The Bumbles. And don't forget to visit your fellow participants to find their recommendations!

1. Remember the Titans (2000): Here's a sweet victory film with Denzel Washington and the cute little Claire-Bear from Heroes!

2. Hoosiers (1986): One of the, if not the best basketball films ever!

3. The Replacements (2000): Fun and romantic and some great football victories too! Keanu Reeves isn't always the best actor, but his supporting cast helps him shine!

4. Invincible (2006): I just love Markie Mark in anything he does...another football inspiring film!

5. A League of Their Own (1992): Woman power in baseball! It rocks and Tom Hanks is just fabulous!

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Katniss is one of those beautiful characters that doesn't realize how great they are! She lives in a brutal post-apocalyptic world where the government uses brutal hunger games to keep the population in line. It reminds me a lot of the Running Man type reality. It's brutal and horrible. I feel it's kind of a social commentary on where our world could be heading...It's the first book in a trilogy and it doesn't disappoint!

Fallen by Lauren Kate Giveaway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover but this one just has me hooked and the story sounds fascinating! Ellz Readz is hosting a giveaway for this one, which ends December 4th! So check it out!

Description:

There's something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori.

Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price's attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He's the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move.

Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce--and goes out of his way to make that very clear--she can't let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret . . . even if it kills her.

Dangerously exciting and darkly romantic, Fallen is a page turning thriller and the ultimate love story.

Sounds great, right?

2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge

Yes, another challenge! But I have the whole year to start off with and get going. I've got a lot of YA books on my TBR list and I felt that this was a great way to get going on them! For the details check out J. Kaye's Book Blog.

1. There are four levels:

--The Mini YA Reading Challenge – Read 12 Young Adult novels.

--Just My Size YA Reading Challenge – Read 25 Young Adult novels.

--Stepping It Up YA Reading Challenge – Read 50 Young Adult novels.

--Super Size Me YA Reading Challenge – Read 75 Young Adult novels.

3. Audio, eBooks, paper all count.

4. No need to list your books in advance. You may select books as you go. Even if you list them now, you can change the list if needed.

5. Challenge begins January 1st thru December, 2010.

I am starting out with the mini list of 16 and will work my way up if I need to (which will most likely happen)!

My List Thus Far (with Goodreads.com links):

Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey
The Dream Quake (Dreamhunter #2) by Elizabeth Knox
Wintergirls by Laure Halse Anderson
Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
Hourglass (Evernight #3) by Claudia Gray
Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
Alanna The First Adventure (Song of the Lioness #1) by Tamora Pierce
Wings by Aprilynne Pike
Vampire Diaries the Awakening and the Struggle by L.J. Smith
Fallen by Lauren Kate
Violet Wings by Victoria Hanley
Crystal Moon #1 by Phillip E. Jones
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
Marked by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
Fire by Kristin Cashore
Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #1) by Maggie Stiefvater

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

My Review in another Haiku:

Lizzie has spirit
Mr Darcy is too proud
Love overcomes all

I really enjoyed rereading this one. It was a pleasure, but not guilty, I promise! I won this version with the lovely cover from Velvet at vvb32 reads! So I just had to get it on my blog! If you haven't read any of Jane Austen start with this one. And don't forget to watch the movies...the BBC 1995 version is excellent with Colin Firth as Darcy, but my personal favorite is the 2005 version with Kiera Knightley and Mathhew McFadyen. He's just my yummy Darcy! And Lost in Austen is also a treat. Check out my links for reviews!

Isn't this the greatest cover! It's so pretty! Thanks again, Velvet!

*This is part of the Everything Austen Challenge hosted by Stephanie.

Things I Love Friday

Midnight Cowgirl of The Fashion Planner has a Things I Love Thursday meme, but since I have my TV Thursdays meme I've decided to postpone it til Fridays since I don't really have anything going on! I feel it's just a fun way to get to know more people, what they love, especially anything that was just super duper during the week! Plus, I'm really working on positivity so this will be a big help to make me think about things that were great this week or other things I'm really grateful for and love. So without further adieu....

Indian summers

Watching my baby boy sleep

My kitties sitting on my lap and purring

Giving and getting kisses from my hubby

Thai Food

Graceling

Star Trek

*Above image was produced by none other than Midnight Cowgirl. Thanks a heap for letting me use it! And I know it says Thursdays, but like I said above...;) I stand corrected; the image is from: http://galadarling.com/static/participate.

TV Thursdays- V

TV Thursdays is my weekly TV meme! Come join and leave a link in the comments section or just a plain ol' comment will do too!

This week's topic is on the new ABC drama V. This new series is actually a remake of both the ABC miniseries and its subsequent TV series back in 1983-1985. I actually remember watching this one as a wee one...reruns! And I thought it was such a great and interesting concept. We have aliens visiting Earth and saying they come in peace and will exchange their technology for certain precious resources they need from our planet...thus they are called the Visitors aka V. But no, they do not come in peace, really, they want to eat us as food and perform experiments on us! Yikes...but they as saviors and they lull us into sweet and utter devotion. So on comes the resistors, the rebellions!

The new series is a wonderful reimagination of the original...better special effects, acting, etc. So it's a real treat and nail biter every week. Since I'm a big sci-fi junky this completely helps me get my fix! Nothing is as good as it seems and it's important to always check everything fully before you jump in!

This is what I've been watching this week...so let me know what you've been watching if you're not a V watcher and if you are tell me what you think of the story concept and the new take on the original.

Happy TV watching!

Ohh La La!!!

Stacy of Stacy's Books passed on this uberly awesome and highly prestigious blogging Ohh La La I Adore Your Blog award to me!

Now I must answer a few questions!

Where is your favorite place to read a book? In my bed!

Bookmarks or dog ears? I try to go for bookmarks, but sometimes...

What is the best book you have read so far this year? The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Graceling by Kristin Cashore, and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith.

Do you like to snack while reading and if so, what is your favorite snack? Too much hand movement in order to snack so it's usually just a big bottle of....water! But movies on the other hand...

Book borrower or book collector? I am BOTH! I am a book hoarder! I get a million from the library and a million from the local thrift store and Amazon.com loves me and I just found an awesome new online bookstore that ships for free with comparable and usually cheaper prices than Amazon, Book Depository. Oh, and I just picked up 16 books from the library that I'll never have time to read! Love books!

So I am passing this one onto a few old faves of mine so check them out when you get a chance!:

1. vvb32 reads
2. Crackin' Spines and Takin' Names
3. Chapter Chitchat

Wondrous Words Wednesday

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Bermudaonion's Weblog where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading. If you want to play along, grab the button, and join the fun! (Don’t forget to leave a link in your comment if you’re participating.)

From Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen:

1. PANEGYRIC (pan-i-jir-ik): p.365 "This naturally introduced a panegyric from Jane on his diffidence, and the little value he put on his own good qualities."

A lofty oration or writing in praise of a person or thing; eulogy.
ORIGIN: 1590–1600; From Latin panēgyricus of, belonging to a public assembly, from Greek panēgyrikós.

2. DILATORY (dil-uh-tawr-ee): p. 269 "His letter was soon dispatched; for though dilatory in undertaking business, he was quick in its execution."

Tending to delay or procrastinate; slow; tardy.
ORIGIN: 1250–1300; Middle English derived from Latin dīlātōrius, to postpone.

From These Is My Words by Nancy E. Turner

1. PASSEL (pas-uhl): p. 348 "Ernest, I said, we have a passel of company."

A group or lot of indeterminate number.
ORIGIN: 1825–35; dialectal variant of parcel.

Teaser Tuesday- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

It's definitely a day late...sorry!

My Teaser:

p. 101 Suddenly I am furious, that with my life on the line, they don't even have the decency to pay attention to me...Without thinking, I pull an arrow from my quiver and send it straight at the Gamemakers' table. I hear shouts of alarm as people stumble back. Th arrow skewers the apple in the pig's mouth and pins it to the wall behind it. Everyone stares at me in disbelief.
"Thank you for your consideration," I say. Then I give a slight bow and walk straight toward the exit without being dismissed.

Monday Movie Meme- Death Scenes!

Feature Presentation...

MONDAY MOVIE MEME

Hosted by The Bumbles

This week's movie topic is all about Death Scenes...

WARNING: These movie recommendations contain spoilers so view and participate at your own risk!

1. From Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992): the vampire Amilyn played by Paul Reubens gets staked like halfway through the movie and is still dying at the end of the movie! It's hilarious...He's at the end of the stairs and with the stake in his heart and groaning with ugghs and ooohs!

2. From The Haunting (1999): Luke Sanderson played by Owen Wilson gets his head taken off by the chimney sweep thingy....I was sooo rooting for him to make it and then boom, nope he's beheaded!

3. From Return of the King (2003): When Eowyn battles with the king of the Nazgul and he says that "No man can kill me." And then she says "I'm no man!" And stabs him through his face helmet! Leave it to a linguist like Tolkien to use these play on words! He dies! It's great.

4. From The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008): When two little boys one German and the other Jewish befriend each other without knowing what really is going on in the world...they both end up getting gassed in the chamber since the German boy decided to hop the fence and join his friend in his striped pajamas for the day to find his friend's father....just happens to be the day the Germans are executing all in the camp...it's heart-wrenching, horrible, chilling, and has stayed with me for several weeks and I bawled like a baby for hours...

2009 Holiday Reading Challenge!

Yesh, it's that time of year again! I can't believe the holiday season is upon me again. Last year at this time I was seven months pregnant with a soon to be eleven pound baby born to me! Not so great memories. But this year, not huge and preggo and have the cutest baby boy to dote on for Christmas! So I'm in the mood and now I just found All About {n} is hosting the 2009 Holiday Reading Challenge, which will run from November 20 to December 31 st!

Here are the details:

1- Challenge will start Friday, November 20 and will end Thursday, December 31.

2- You can read anywhere from 1 to 5 books for the challenge and, of course, if you're like me, you are more than welcome to surpass that number.

3- And now, here's the clincher... they must be holiday related books. That's right, the holiday doesn't really matter, but it would be more "jolly" if your choices were Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, etc.

4- The size of the book does not matter, nor does the genre. It is also okay for the book to overlap with other challenges. The only thing I ask is that they are not children's books. YA is okay. And so are re-reads. I for one tend to read the same books every Christmas - they are tradition.

5- To sign up - leave a link back to your challenge post here. There will also be a post for review links as well as one for challenge wrap-ups.

6- And.... there will be goodies. That's right, we'll call them presents. At the end of every week that the challenge is running she will choose one winner from the review links and will allow them to pick a book of their choosing (of course, she will provide a list). Meaning the more books you read, review and link up, the more chances you have at winning a "present".

Well, my list so far that I've chosen are these:

1. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (reread for me)
2. Secrets of a Christmas Box by Steven Hornby (I won this online from Katrina)
3. The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans
4. The Christmas Almanack by Gerard & Patricia Del Re (Always a reread!)

I may add more....but this is good for now!
I hope you join in and take in the spirit of the season!

Everything Austen Challenge and Giveaway!

J.T. of Bibliofreak is holding an Everything Austen Challenge Giveaway! AND it's an INTERNATIONAL GIVE AWAY. One lucky reader will get the Jane Austen action figure, complete with quill, writing desk, and copy of Pride and Prejudice.

All you have to do is either write a six-word summary of one of her novels or Haiku poetry summary! And if you're apart of Stephanie's Everything Austen Challenge you get a few extra entries. So for more info. click on the Everything challenge link above and get started (the one next to Bibilofreak link)!

My Pride and Prejudice Haiku:

Too much pride excels
Too much prejudice avails
Then much love begins.

Mansfield Park six-word summary:

Fanny and Edward, cousins, together forever.

Weekly Glee

Well, I just thought I'd start talking about the Fox show Glee. I get to watch Glee a day late since I have no cable, satellite, or plain old regular TV on the antenna so I get to watch via the Internet a day late! But that's OK, I don't complain.

• So far we Will Schuester volunteering to coach Glee Club since he was in Glee in his high school days.
• But all the kids are "losers" and it's "uncool" to join.
• Sue is the cheerleading coach and wants to bring Glee down since they're cutting into her "Cheerios" budget.
• Then we have the male star from the football team who supposedly knocked up his girlfriend, but actually didn't; it was his best friend from the football team who also joined Glee....
• We also have Will thinking his flighty, selfish and not so kind wife is with child...nope, she's faking it and wanting the baby from the football team's girlfriend to keep so she won't have to tell Will, and Will also has a crush on the high school counselor who's marrying the football coach to get over will oh and she's a germ freak like Monk!

So you throw all this into lots of great music in the Glee numbers and it's sort of a musical, actually and throw in some heart to characters that you didn't think had any! And voila, it's a masterpiece and can't wait for every new episode.

This week the principal ordered Sue to hold tryouts for a new member since she had just kicked off her start since she's pregnant...she let on a girl with Down Syndrome and Will started thinking she had some ulterior motive...something devious up her sleeve...since she even forked over some money to help Glee build a wheelchair ramp to the stage (Glee club has Artie...who's in a wheelchair). Flash forward a couple of scenes and we have Sue visiting her older sister who also has Down Syndrome and now we see a whole new side to Sue...I was crying like a baby, but in a good way. It was very touching and I really enjoy it when we see full character developments like this. It just makes everything seem more real and deep.

Till next episode!

These Is My Words by Nancy E. Turner

One Line Review: Sarah's mean, ornery, smart, tough, and beautiful!

I really enjoyed Sarah! She's a hoot, tough as nails, no nonsense kind of woman! She's a wonderful character and I just loved reading about her life in Arizona at the end of the 19th century. Jack is also a wonderful love interest for her; he's just perfect! I was laughing, crying, and cheering through the whole thing! The only reason I won't give it a five is that there were some parts I found a bit slow, but that's life for ya...not everything can be high-adventure day in and day out!

And the Winner Is.....................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks to everyone for being a follower and helping me celebrate getting to the big 5-0! So without further adieu I would like to announce the winner..................................................................................................................................................................................................

Noella Li/1inseveralbillion @ Books A La Carte

So a big congratulations to her! And she has chosen The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting. Noella even saved me money by finding a cheaper place that ships for free! Book Depository!!! So check that one out as well!

I had a lot of entries and wish I was super rich to give a free book to all...my nine month old son Gabe picked the winner from his cute Gap ball cap!

Black and Mormon Edited by Newell G. Bringhurst and Darron T. Smith

These articles were so insightful on being African American in a society that runs everything by white standards and then it delves deeper into how that affects African Americans in the Mormon church. How do they deal with the racist policies of the Church before the Priesthood ban was lifted in June of 1978? Many talk about how hurt they were, but how through their own personal experience with God they've been able to work through it.

Other articles talk about how since most of the LDS church in America is white, how they don't want to talk about race, but how it really needs to be addressed and that a lot of people in answer to why there was a priesthood ban continue to spread false folklore like "they weren't valiant enough in the preexistence or they are descended from Cain and thus cursed." These are completely false and yet are still used as reasons, which truly impact negatively African American members.

Black Americans have huge insights and ideas and culture to bring to the Church...I would really love to see more active hymns in the church, saying a few amens in agreement during sacrament meeting would be great!

I think it's very important to be aware about who we are and how we relate to others. Let's embrace all cultures over the world and incorporate their beautiful traditions into ours as well and truly become a worldwide church.

I really recommend this book for all members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or for those interested in African American studies. It helps us see ourselves in a new light and to change what we didn't know was ignorant or insensitive before.

One More Day For My Giveaway!

Just a reminder to sign up for my giveaway which ends tomorrow at midnight MST!

TV Thursday- Favorite Shows Getting Axed

TV Thursday is a meme where I share various topics on the wonderful land of TV and hope you join in the discussion!

There was a TV show last season called Life on NBC...it was cancelled at the end of the season after two years. Charlie Crews is pardoned after twelve years in prison for a crime he never committed. He is released with lots of settlement money and with his badge back on the LAPD. He's out to discover who set him up and why. Damian Lewis plays Det. Charlie Crews and he plays him with an American accent since he's actually British. The accent is flawless. So they're solving crimes while he's investigating his own case...it's fun and pretty intense. It ended on a great note, though, like they knew it was getting cancelled and therefore wrapped it up pretty nice. So if you haven't seen this show...rent it, borrow it, etc! You won't be disappointed!

A few years ago there was Invasion and Threshold that I absolutely adored and they got canned halfway through the season with huge cliffhangers.

Veronica Mars is another one that I just love...it only last three seasons and the end was not a great send off...grrrrr!

What show(s) did you absolutely love last year or in previous years and it/they got axed?

Wondrous Words Wednesday

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Bermudaonion's Weblog where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading. If you want to play along, grab the new button (or the old graphic), and join the fun! (Don’t forget to leave a link in your comment if you’re participating.)

From Graceling by Kristin Cashore:

1. Rakish "The skin had blackened around his eye, the gold eye, an made his gaze even more rakish and uneven than it had before."

Smart, jaunty, dashing.

2. Inanity "Katsa couldn't bear her own inanity."

Lack of sense, significance, or ideas; silliness.

3. Morass "...partly because as the snow melted the yard turned into a morass of mud."

A tract of low, soft, wet ground.

Teaser Tuesdays- These Is My Words

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser:

p. 191 "I don't really know why, except that I wanted t oso much, I leaned over and took his neck and kissed him. I slipped out of the chair and into his arms and he held me close and kissed me long and hard, and I kissed him back. Then I leaned my face into his neck and just held onto him for dear life.

Don't leave me...I said.
Not ever, he whispered back."

This book is great...I'll have my review up shortly!

Women Unbound: Start-up Challenge Meme

WOMEN UNBOUND Start of Challenge Meme:

1. What does feminism mean to you? Does it have to do with the work sphere? The social sphere? How you dress? How you act?

Being a feminist to means wanting the same opportunities for all women, whether it be same pay for the same work, or being able to be oneself and not compromise are standards and values in order to work our way to the top. It also means allowing women to be comfortable in whatever they choose, if they choose to be stay at home mom's yeah! If they choose to have a career, yeah! If they choose both, yeah! Allowing us as women to choose how, who, and what we want to be. I feel it also means letting up on the typical female attitudes...such as they're better with kids, or they're more spiritual...treat us as individuals not as a group to be stereotyped.

2. Do you consider yourself a feminist? Why or why not?

Yes, I definitely consider myself a feminist. I have a desire to see things get better for all of us women...where we can be judged according to our own personal merit and not whether or not we have breasts...Women's issues are very important to me and therefore that makes me a feminist and it's NOT a dirty word!

3. What do you consider the biggest obstacle women face in the world today? Has that obstacle changed over time, or does it basically remain the same?

I guess it depends on where you're at in the world. There are plenty of women being repressed in countries due to religion, plenty of women being raped and mutilated in wars. This never seems to change. In more stable countries where women have more power I would say the greatest obstacle is allowing us to feel comfortable about what we choose to do in life. It seems like we're damned if we do and damned if we don't. I'm a stay at home mom right now and in my community that's looked upon very highly; there are a few women who could stay home if they wanted to, but instead are choosing to have a career and be a mom...they seem to be the oddity in the neighborhood, people can't understand why they don't want to stay at home and raise all those babies. Then there's the "how many kids are you going to have?" My hubby and I only want one child and we have our beautiful boy now...but I not him as much, get the flack for it...how can I not want another one? Sometimes it feels like they think I'm just a baby incubator and that's all I'm good for....Then there's the flipside when a women decides to stay at home...there's flack for that too from others in society.

There's definitely more opportunities...more women in careers, politicians, etc...but I think the same obstacle has been around for years...we're still in a man's world and thus subject to those rules...

Monday Movie Meme- Deep Impact

Feature Presentation...

MONDAY MOVIE MEME

A weekly meme hosted by The Bumbles Blog. This week is all about movies that have changed your life in some way, stopped and made you think, or movies that just had major significance in your life.

1. Schindler's List (1993): My parents took me to this one...it still is with me; it's haunting, horrific, and yet beautiful and hopeful. It personified the Holocaust for me and the tragedy and horrificness of war.

2. My Life (1993): This one really got me thinking about how precious life is and how precious it is with those that we love. What kind of legacy do we want to leave behind? How can we live life to the fullest, to live each day like we're dying...It was just beautiful.

Fifty Followers Giveaway!

NOW CLOSED

I'm am proud and humbled to announce I have reached fifty followers and have therefore decided to host a giveaway as my appreciation!!!! For the lucky winner I will send them a book of their choice from Amazon.com to their front door! I've received a lot of books for free from other bloggers and so I feel a bit guilty...so I really want to spend some hard earned cash on someone else to get a book they've had on their list!!! This giveaway ends Friday November 13th at Midnight Mountain Standard Time.

To Enter:

1. You MUST be a follower!!!! Just let me know in your comment.
2. You MUST leave your email address so I can contact you, if not I draw another name.

Extra Entries:

1. +2 if you mention it on your blog/post it etc., leave a link.
2. +1 for each time you social network it via Twitter, Facebook, etc...leave a link.

This is open to everyone since I'm feeling generous! It just wouldn't be fair otherwise since I have followers outside the U.S.!

Thanks again for following and reading a few posts on my blog every now and then!

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

I actually read the book and then watched the movie so I will be mentioning both!

This was a wonderful novel...it follows an Indian family from the time they are married (arranged) till their son Gogol is all grown up. The story focuses on Gogol named after his father's favorite author. Gogol grows up first-generation American and takes on all the struggles that that entails. How does he immerse himself in one culture while hanging onto another? We follow Gogol through his life and struggles...he hates being Indian and is embarrassed by his parents. He wants to break out from this mold and chooses to be an architect when his parents want him to be something more distinguished like an engineer or a doctor. He refuses to date Indian women, he even changes his name to Nikhil and people begin to call him Nick.

As a reader along for the ride I wanted Gogol to be proud of who he is and to be proud of the struggles and sacrifices his parents have and are going through and to be appreciative and loyal...but that's life and it's all about the journey. Gogol does learn how to appreciate who he is and am so glad I was along for the ride!

The movie was really well-done...it didn't quite have the impact of the novel, but that's to be expected. They did throw some details into the movie that made it a bit more personal than the book did so that was a nice change. I recommend reading the book first and you'll better enjoy the movie!

Up to 51!!!!

I just hit fifty over the night thanks to Laura and Cindy! So I will do some thinking this weekend and will post my giveaway on Monday!!!! Thanks again faithful followers!

Almost 50!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm almost to fifty followers! That's huge for me. I didn't expect anybody to read or even care about my little corner of the blogging world. So in honor of this soon (hopefully) occasion I will be holding a giveaway to be determined once I hit that magical number! I'm so excited!

Women Unbound: A Reading Challenge

Yes! Another reading challenge! This one is just too awesome to pass up! This challenge is all about books on women's studies, defined as:

the multidisciplinary study of the social status and societal contributions of women and the relationship between power and gender.

The challenge runs from November 1, 2009-November 30, 2010. No need for a reading list, but here's the challenge:

There are three levels you can choose as a reader:

• Philogynist: read at least two books, including at least one nonfiction one.
• Bluestocking: read at least five books, including at least two nonfiction ones.
• Suffragette: read at least eight books, including at least three nonfiction ones.

I'm going to go the middle route with BLUESTOCKING. I haven't decided completely on what I want to read, but I have a few ideas! I'll be sharing them soon.

For more information please visit Women Unbound: A Reading Challenge for all the details and updates on this fabulous challenge! I hope you will at least think about participating!

TV Thursday- Star Trek

TV Thursday is a weekly meme on, well, TV! Please leave a comment and/or link to your thoughts/post! Thanks for participating!

This weeks theme focuses on Star Trek! Including all spin-offs of the original.

I grew up on Star Trek! I'm a Trekkie, yes, I admit it! And I have loved all the spin-offs and most of the movies. My favorite spin-off is Star Trek: The Next Generation. Totally cheesy the first couple of seasons, but superb. Enterprise is my second favorite. It has Scott Bakula in it as Captain Archer!

OK, basically I'm saying if you haven't given Star Trek a try before you really ought to give it a go. The original series is super campy and fun and cheesy! But who can resist Captain Kirk's double-fisted battle blow or Dr. Bones saying "Damn it, Jim, I'm a doctor not a barber!" Or Spock saying illogical!

If you're a Trekkie what's your favorite? Why do you love Star Trek? Or if you're not a big Trekkie what's your favorite sci-fi show?

This is also in honor of the new Star Trek movie coming out on DVD in a couple of weeks! So excited!